The Keeper
by Moonpumpkin
Summary: '"Sirius, you know you can't stop this war by yourself, right?" Sirius clenched his jaw tightly. It was a tell-tale sign that he desperately wanted to argue, but was restraining himself.' A slice of life during the First Wizarding War. Written for the Quiddich League Fanfiction Competition.


Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe and all its characters

The sharp knocks sent James racing toward the door. Looking through the peephole, he grinned as he saw a familiar mop of wavy black locks. His joy was short-lived, however, when he reminded himself that it may not be Sirius at the door. It was unlikely—Sirius was their secret-keeper and therefore the only one that knew their location, and James couldn't believe Sirius would ever give them up—but it was a necessary precaution. Throwing the door open, James pointed his wand directly at Sirius' chest. It felt foreign to threaten his best friend, and even more so to have Sirius' wand directed at him. "What did McGonagall say to us at graduation?" Sirius asked, his face stony.

"That we were her favorites. What did we think Harry's name should have been?"

"Elvendork," Sirius replied immediately. James waited. "Because it's unisex." James sighed in relief and stepped forward to embrace his friend. Sirius wrapped his arms around James in return, but James noted that it was much weaker than normal.

James ushered Sirius inside, carefully restoring all the protective spells on the modest cottage. "Sorry I'm late," Sirius called from the kitchen chair he'd collapsed in. He peeled off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. "Mission was a lot more…complicated than we'd originally anticipated."

"What—" James began without thinking, but Sirius cut him off wearily.

"You know I can't tell you, mate." James was surprised by the level of exhaustion in his voice. Fatigue seeped from every pore in Sirius' body. He had dark bags under his eyes, darker even than Remus' after the full moon. Scrapes and bruises littered his arms and poked out from the collar of his shirt, and James was sure there were more hiding underneath Sirius' clothes. It was apparent that Sirius hadn't bothered to run home and shower before visiting; his hair was wild and he reeked faintly of blood, sweat, anger, and horror. James wasn't entirely convinced that Sirius would have told him the details of the mission, even if he wasn't bound to secrecy.

It killed James that he wasn't out there with Sirius. He'd worked with the Order, throwing himself into the cause like everyone else, but once Dumbledore had approached them about the prophecy and he and Lily had taken Harry into hiding…James felt useless. Sirius, on the other hand, was working himself half to death, going on missions for both the Auror Department and the Order whenever physically possible. The result was sitting at James' kitchen table. "Right, erm," James started, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tea, then?"

A small smile worked its way across Sirius' exhausted features. "Tea would be glorious."

James filled the kettle and set it on the stove. When he turned back again, he found Sirius' eyes closed and head slightly reclined. Had he fallen asleep? Merlin knew he needed it. "You alright?" James asked quietly, determined not to wake him if he was indeed sleeping.

Sirius blinked back at him slowly, his eyes taking a moment to focus. "Yeah, I'm f—" A light patter diverted his attention. Sirius swiveled to face the source of the noise, and his face lit up. "Harry!" he exclaimed, meeting his godson halfway to toss him up in the air. Harry squealed wildly, little hands fisting in Sirius' shirt and hair when he came down. Sirius winced and unwound Harry's fingers from his hair. Bouncing him lightly on his hip, Sirius asked, "How's my favorite Potter been?" prompting an indignant cry from James. Harry gurgled in response.

"Sirius Orion Black, where have you been?"

"Ah, my second favorite Potter," Sirius grinned, and he kissed Lily lightly on the cheek.

"See if I make you tea now!" James teased. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please," she laughed, "you make a terrible cuppa." James huffed good-naturedly. "So, Sirius, how've you been lately?" Lily continued. "I feel like we never see you anymore."

Sirius sighed, dropping heavily back into his chair and bouncing Harry on his leg. "I know. I can't believe how big Harry's gotten." He sighed again, running a hand through his unruly hair. "I've just…been trying to help out as much as I can."

"Been trying to do the impossible is more like," James argued. "Sirius, you know you can't stop this war by yourself, right?" Sirius clenched his jaw tightly. It was a tell-tale sign that he desperately wanted to argue, but was restraining himself for whatever reason. This time it was probably due to the drooling bundle on his lap. James passed Sirius his tea, both all too aware of how the argument would have gone—word for word—and awkwardly choosing to ignore it. Sirius accepted his tea with silent thanks. Lily's eyes darted between the two uncomfortably; she had never quite gotten used to their near-telepathic conversations.

Sirius cleared his throat. "So…have Moony or Wormtail visited lately?" He sipped his tea innocently, but James knew what he was getting at.

"Peter's been over a few times, always complaining about his Ministry job, you know? Remus has only been over the once." Sirius hummed in a haughty, I-told-you-so kind of way. James pushed on, trying to dissuade his friend's paranoia. "But he's been having a hard time keeping a job, let alone two, so he's been having trouble paying for rent and food and he won't borrow any money from us because he's too damn noble." Sirius simply hummed again, which drove James up the wall.

Harry yawned widely and audible, and flopped his head against Sirius' chest. Lily chuckled. "Seems someone needs to go to bed." She moved forward to pick Harry up, but Sirius wound his arm more tightly around the baby.

"Please? Can I…?" Lily nodded gently. Sirius placed his tea on the table and carried Harry up to the nursery.

James sighed once he heard Sirius' footsteps and muffled voice above him. "I miss him," he said. Lily wrapped her arms around his middle and laid her head on his chest.

"He'll be around more once this is all over," she said softly, using her patented mothering voice. It worked somewhat, as James noted the tension seeping out of his shoulders.

James stroked her red hair. "I mean I miss the old him," he whispered, almost afraid to say it aloud. "I miss laughing with him, playing pranks with him, playing Quiddich with him. I hate seeing him so tired, so suspicious of everyone, even Moony, I—" James stopped and sighed again. "I wish everything would go back to the way it was."

"Yeah," Lily agreed, squeezing him tighter. "But I suppose it'll all be better in the end, won't it?" James nodded and pressed his lips to Lily's forehead. Isolated as they were, these moments were few and far between.

Suddenly James noticed that he couldn't hear the low rumble or Sirius' voice anymore. "Don't suppose he's died, do you?" he joked. Lily swatted him on the arm, but led the way upstairs to investigate.

Sirius certainly was, for all intents and purposes, dead to the world. He lay in the reclining chair with Harry curled up on his chest, both sleeping soundly. A book of nursery rhymes lay forgotten on the floor. Harry was drooling slightly on Sirius' shirt, and Sirius' mouth was wide open, soft snores escaping him.

Lily grabbed the camera off the dresser—placed for easy access—and snapped a picture of the two. Neither so much as stirred. As Lily scooped Harry up and placed him in the crib, James removed Sirius' shoes. He considered taking off his socks as well, before deciding he didn't want to unleash the stench into the house. Lily retrieved a blanket from the closet and together she and James draped it across Sirius. James felt guilty for leaving Sirius to sleep in a chair rather than a proper bed, but he didn't want to wake his friend from the first bit of sleep he had likely had in days.

A yawn crept up on James, attacking before he knew what had happened. Lily chuckled. "Bed?"

James nodded. "Bed."


End file.
